Archive of ‘Hooping’ category

A song popped in to my mind the first time I used the Monster Block Maker. The block was “floating” at the machine and I found myself singing quietly to myself: “It floats through the air with the greatest of ease…”

While it’s certainly novel, you might be wondering, why would you want to float a quilt block? The answer: You’ll save fabric and batting!

The Monster Block Maker is designed to work with the 8” x 8” Snap Hoop Monster. It is available for single needle and multi-needle machines. The kit includes:

4 reusable plastic templates for 5″, 6″, 7″ and 8″ blocks

60 yards of ¼” wide double stick Monster Block Maker Tape

Instructions for how to use the product

12 Downloadable embroidery designs (C2S, PES, JEF formats)

Here’s a look of the product in use:

The photo shows the 5” template attached to the bottom frame of the 8” x 8” Snap Hoop Monster frame. I’ve been using the template for multiple uses (hence the fibers on the double stick tape). The tape has enough adhesive to still adhere a few more blocks. Of course, when the tape has lost it’s stickiness, I can peel it away and apply new strips of tape.

The bottom fabric of my quilt sandwich is adhered to the back (underside) of the Monster Block Maker template as shown.

Next, a piece of batting is adhered to the top of the Monster Block Maker template.

Last, the top fabric for the quilt sandwich is placed on top of the batting.

Note, the magnetic frame from the 8” x 8” Snap Hoop Monster is not used with this product.

Now it’s time for the embroidery machine! The first stitch sequence secures the fabric.

Now the machine stitches the decorative elements.

The block is complete. The hoop has been removed from the embroidery machine.

Now just peel away the block from the Monster Block Maker template.

Trim any excess fabric around the block with a ruler and rotary cutter.

Update/Correction: The video the batting is cut to the same size as the front and back fabric – the batting should be smaller and fit within the hole in the block maker, only the front and back fabric should get stuck to the tape!

I take magnetic hoops for granted. I invented them so long ago, I’d have to check the patent to verify the year. I use them everyday for many embroidery tasks. So it surprises me when I attend events and meet embroiderers who are not familiar with magnetic hoops.

They’ll ask if they work. And the answer is, “Absolutely!”

They ask if they’ll harm their machine. And the answer is, “No!”

They’ll ask what size should they buy. And the answer is, “Every size available for your machine!”

So let’s dig a little deeper. Magnetic hoops work like a dream because they do not cause fiber distortion. They have a flat metal bottom frame and a flat magnetic top. The magnets are quite strong and firmly grip a quilt sandwich, a terry towel, a knit shirt and many other fabrics. They do not replace a standard embroidery hoop, they complement it!

Magnetic hoops do not harm your machine as the magnetic force is shielded by the metal frame. The magnetic force grips the fabric – not the machine. The hoops have been thoroughly tested on all machines during the prototype stage. There has never been an issue with a magnetic hoop interfering with the machine’s operating system. Many years ago, we were told not to use magnetic pin cushions. At that time, the computer in the machine was encased in a light plastic housing and magnets could interfere with the operating system. In you owned a cell phone in that era, it was housed in a tote bag with long coiled wire!

Today, the machine’s computer, although very powerful, is tiny. It’s highly insulated and the magnetic force can reach it. Think about the power of your cellphone, the advancements in embroidery technology are very similar.

So what size should an embroiderer buy? I always ask, ” What size hoop do you stitch the majority of your embroidery projects in?”

Whatever the answer is, that’s the first magnetic hoop size they should purchase.

Now if someone is starting to quilt with their embroidery machine, then the answer is, the largest hoop that’s available for your machine!

I just arrived in Beaver Dam, WI for Nancy’s Sewing Weekend. It’s always a fun time – full of great classes, inspiring samples and wonderful people. Of course, this year will be a little different without Nancy but we’re all committed to carrying on this great tradition. If you’re in Wisconsin or Ilinois or Iowa or Minnesota or…well, you get the idea, head to Beaver Dam. I’m reposting Saturday’s blog from Zieman Productions here. Read on to see what’s happening at Nancy’s Notions this weekend, May 3-5, 2018.

What started as a grand opening in 1985 has grown into one of Wisconsin’s largest annual sewing events. This year’s events start Thursday, May 3rd, and run through Saturday, May 5th. FREE Admission and FREE Parking!

Test-drive a Baby Lock Sewing Machine!

Hands-on classes are running throughout the weekend. While many are sold out, tickets for select days and times are available onsite at Nancy’s Notions Sewing Weekend.

Free Demonstrations by the Experts

Company representatives from some of the top brands in the sewing industry are available at Sewing Weekend to answer questions and demonstrate products.

NEW! This Year: Food Trucks

Food Trucks—7 food trucks/vendors will be part of the Sewing Weekend festivities this year. You won’t need to leave the event to travel to an off-site food location, unless you choose to do so. A seating area and tent will be near the food trucks. It’s a great way to enjoy a variety of choices plus support other Wisconsin-based businesses. Trucks and vendors participating include:

Special Exhibits and Displays!

Join us in celebrating the 34th annual Sewing Weekend, May 3–5, 2018—at Nancy’s Notions in Beaver Dam, WI. What started as a grand opening in 1985, Sewing Weekend has grown into one of Wisconsin’s largest annual sewing events.

Remember the first Sewing Weekend?

Check out these photos from the 1985 Grand Opening of Nancy’s Notions:

Thank you to Nancy, for her vision in creating an annual event for us to gather and celebrate sewing. This year, we celebrate Nancy and her many contributions to the sewing world, her elegant style and gracious living.

Just about every tote bag can benefit from the addition of embroidery but hooping one can be challenging. Here’s how I do it – on a single needle machine or a multi-needle.

Place a target sticker 4” below the center top of the tote. Place the tear-away stabilizer over the metal frame of Monster Hoop.

Turn the tote inside out and center the tote over the stabilizer (centering the target sticker). Place the magnetic top over the tote. Use the edge of the tote as an alignment guide. If it’s straight, the design will be straight.

Attach the hoop to the machine and lift the tote over the machine head. Keep an eye on the straps and make sure they are not caught under the hoop.

Multi-Needle Machines

Place a target sticker 4” below the center top of the tote. Place the outer ring inside the tote and lay a piece of tear-away over the outer ring. Insert the inner ring, keeping the target sticker centered.

Or if you’re using Multi-needle Monster, then insert the magnetic frame into the bag, centering the target sticker. Position the metal frame on top of the magnetic frame and attach to the machine.

Cold weather calls for cozy fabrics like Minky, faux fur and lofty knits. As wonderful as they are to wear, they present challenges when it’s time to add embroidery to them. First, their fibers creep over embroidery camouflaging the beautiful stitches. Second, since they’re lofty and bulky, they’re hard to hold in a hoop.

Inspiration’s Perfect Embroidery Pro’s Nap Blocker feature is the answer for taming the fibers. Nap Blocker adds a layer of complex fill stitches that’s just light enough to flatten the lofty fibers creating a smooth surface for the embroidery. Here’s how to do it in PEP.

Select the Text tool and type JOY in the Properties Box. I used the Bookman font.

Instantly, a layer of complex fill is added to the design in the first color position.

The fill extends .15” beyond the design to ensure any long fibers will not obstruct the embroidery. You can change this by selecting the fill only and resizing.

Notice how the complex fill is placed at the beginning of the design in the color sequence.

Stitch the complex fill in the same color thread as the fabric. This is key because you want these stitches to disappear behind the beautiful embroidery. And…you don’t have to use a topper when you use Nap Blocker. How sweet is that?

Now to hoop – I use Snap Hoop Monster for all lofty fabrics because the magnetic flat frame does not leave hoop burn. My 5” x 7” is my go-to hoop for these bulky fabrics – its strong grip does a great job for monogramming and more!

PEP and Snap Hoop Monster are a powerful combination for furry fibers. Use it for Christmas stockings, faux fur throws and Minky blankets.

It’s always been a dream of mine to have an ocean view out my studio window.

Since I live in Texas, this is definitely not what I see out my window and it’s not likely to change any time soon. What would be the next best thing? How about an embroidery class in a store that’s just steps from the Pacific Ocean? Wouldn’t that be lovely? Oh I how wish I was teaching (or taking) one! But since I’m not available in July for Discount Fabrics Warehouse multi-island event, I’m sending Ashley Jones, one of our embroidery specialists to teach embroidery techniques. Ashley has received over 300 hours of DIME training so she’s a whiz at our placement, hooping and stabilizing methods. And she has a solution for almost every problem an embroiderer will encounter.

She’ll be showing Hawaiian embroiderers how to stitch a hat on a home machine plus she’ll share her secrets for flawless continuous embroidery.

She’ll even insert a little zen into the activities with exploring color therapy designs. Best of all, she’s bringing all of DIME’s tools for everyone to play with during class. So if you’re in Hawaii and have never seen or used DIME’s magnetic hoops, aligning lasers and rulers, then you’re in for a treat. Not only will you learn everything Ashley has to offer but you’ll enjoy a “try before you buy experience.”

If you like to decorate tote bags, pillows or quilt blocks, Ashley’s secrets to speedy stitching with professional results will wow you.

Want to expand your stash of embroidery designs? She’ll show you how.

Think embroidery is too ‘dense or stiff for t-shirts? Think again. You’ll see fabric-friendly designs that are extremely comfortable to wear.

Plan on spending an afternoon with Ashley so that you can bring your embroidery skills up to a professional level. The Vintage Chic event will help you get the most of your machine. And isn’t that what we all want to do? Use our machine for all their worth and stop struggling with hooping, placement and stabilizing. Click here to see what island event fits into your schedule! https://www.inspiredbydime.com/inspiration-socials/

This week’s winner is JUDY GRACZYK! Her comment: Oh, yes, misspelling, upside down, you name it. My stitch ripper and erasers are my friends! was selected to win a copy of Hoop It Up, the Stitching Sisters’ Guide to Hooping. Enjoy Judy!

Is there anything sweeter than welcoming a new baby into the family right at the holidays? It brings the meaning of Christmas home…time to focus on the important things in live and leave the mall hustle and bustle to others. One of our team members, Sandy Griggs, became a first-time grandma on Dec. 18th to Bo Braun – a beautiful, healthy 8.3 pound cherub.

We couldn’t be more thrilled for her family and since Sandy is a previous collegiate softball star, I thought it was only appropriate to stitch a onesie for Bo. It’s a little cold up there right now but come spring training, he’ll be ready for batting practice!

I purchased a baseball applique design at Applique For Kids and added lettering to personalize it for Sandy.

Here are the easy steps for stitching an onesie. Fuse polymesh cut-away stabilizer to the wrong side of the onesie. Place the onesie on a work surface and position the Children’s Perfect Placement Kit Center Chest template on the shirt. Match the shirt’s vertical center with the template’s vertical line and the curved neckline at the bottom of the ribbing. Place a target sticker in the opening.

Turn the onesie INSIDE out. Slide the top magnetic frame of Snap Hoop Monster into the shirt, centering the target sticker. You’ll have to peek into the garment to see if it’s centered. Attach Hoop Guard to the frame and pull the shirt over the Hoop Guard as shown.

Carefully transport the hoop to the machine (use the magnetic shield that came with the hoop). Attach the hoop the machine. Use the machine’s editing features to center the needle over the target sticker. Rotate the design so that it will stitch in the proper orientation.

Stitch the first color, the placement guide.

Place the applique fabric over the outline and stitch color 2, the tackdown. Trim the applique close to the stitching and continue with the embroidered details.

Remove the hoop from the machine, turn the onesie inside out and trim away the excess stabilizer. Fuse a soft, tricot knit interfacing over the wrong side of the embroidery to protect the baby’s skin.

If you like this baseball applique, then there’s a good chance you could win a $20 gift certificate at Applique For Kids. Just leave us a comment and we’ll pick FIVE winners next week! Since Applique for Kids designs are just $2.00, that’s 10 designs! Pop on over to Applique for Kids and tell me what’s your favorite category of designs – they’ve got plenty!

As owners of the Baby Lock Enterprise and Brother Entrepreneur, we are so fortunate to have the latest and greatest technology at their finger tips. We have the scanner and live camera along with automatic basting file (shown in an earlier blog for embroidering t-shirts) and another helpful, quick technique the automatic appliqué feature. The automatic appliqué can create any shape, text or embroidery design into an appliqué without using embroidery software. There is an icon on the screen to convert each design into an appliqué.

I created a simple three-letter monogram inside a diamond shape design right at the embroidery screen; no embroidery software needed. The steps below will guide you how to create your own appliqué once a design, text or shape is shown on the screen.

Step 1. Select the shapes icon under Exclusives and choose the diamond shape.

Resize the diamond shape to approximately 4″ wide or the size you wish to embroider and select Edit End.

Step 2. Click the blue shield icon; this will add the automatic appliqué around the diamond shape.

Step 3.Use the select key and highlight the black diamond shape as shown in photo (the original shape) and delete it.

Go to “Add”. Choose the monogram icon.

Step 4. Select the letters for the monogram; left, middle and right letters to fit properly inside the shape.

Resize the letters to fit inside the satin stitches.

Step 5. Hoop the fabric and stitch the placement color (1st color). Add the fabric on top of placement color. Remove hoop from machine and trim excess fabric from around diamond shape.

Step 6. Replace the hoop on the machine and stitch the satin stitch and monogram.

Instant applique! Right at your fingertips!

Learn more helpful machine embroidery business information by taking my Craftsy class : How to Start an Embroidery Business by Marie Zinno.

Where do you turn when you need a solution to an embroidery dilemma? It started innocently enough with “Honey, can you embroider my name and phone number on this strap?” I naively responded, “Oh sure, I’ll bet it’ll be an easy thing to do.” Then he hands over the ‘harmless’ strap. From afar, it looked like camo canvas maybe camo neoprene. But once in my hand, my knees began to tremble when I gripped the…RUBBER backing! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

Rubber? Really? Are you kidding me? Dang, I wish I hadn’t shared that joke about the lady who informed her husband that no, she won’t stitch a logo on his golf shirt because her machine can’t do menswear. I still chuckle at that line. But my sweet husband knows the truth behind that – it’s a joke he’s heard me tell in Stitching Sister events. He knows all of my machines ‘can do menswear.’

So off I trotted to the office with the noose, I mean strap, over my shoulder. I figured I’d start my research there – pour through all our technical journals, embroidery books and commercial magazines to look for a solution. My search led to nothing, not a clue on how to hoop or stabilize rubber-backed neoprene. So I did what I normally do when approached with a stumbling block. I climb around it. Avoid it. Make a path around it – like the elephant in the room. And mull it over for a few days. But not this time because in walked the most knowledgeable person in the embroidery industry. Deborah Jones.

She was here on official business – really big important stuff like what would we have for lunch. At the end of our visit, I remembered the noose – strap (gee, I keep staying that!) and asked for her advice. Without a trace of confusion or a moment of hesitation, she said, “Oh hoop it with wax paper. You’ll need something to lubricate the needle and thread as it exits the rubber.”

I looked at her like she handed me the Hope diamond. She looked at me like she sometimes does, “Oh you silly Yankee.” (Doesn’t matter how long you live in Texas, you’re always a Yankee if you imported yourself.) Then she left. I was perplexed, okay scared, so I worried for a few more days. And then I bought wax paper. I haven’t purchased wax paper in years and didn’t spot it the new fancy grocery near the office. I asked a salesperson where I would find it and she wasn’t quite sure what it was! After a minute she muttered something about packed lunches at grandma’s house when she was a little girl and then sent me to aisle 23. Anyway, I bought it.

The noose, I mean strap, is thick so holding it in a hoop was not an option. Sticking it down on hooped wax paper in a standard hoop would likely result in the noose, strap, popping off the wax paper. So I hooped tear-away stabilizer and two layers of wax paper (Why two? I don’t know, I bought a whole roll, so I figured I’d get my money’s worth) in Snap Hoop on a 10-needle machine. Snap Hoop is flat and will help keep the strap on the wax paper. I sprayed the back of the strap with temporary adhesive and pressed it onto the wax paper. Then taped it for extra security.

As you remember Deborah told me to ‘use wax paper.’ She didn’t tell me anything about hooping, adding stabilizer or adhesive. I was on my own there, I just tried to apply common sense (something most Yankees are not known for in Texas) and tame the challenge and well, git her done as they say here.

It worked! An embroidery miracle, thanks to Deborah Jones.

The winner of last week’s blog post answered the following question:
Have you used Kreations by Kara’s designs? If so, do you have a favorite? Leave a comment and four random winners will each receive a $25 gift certificate! Yippee! A shopping spree is in order.

The winner is:

Josie D: “I hadn’t heard of her before but what you’ve shown is awesome.”

Sara R: “There are too many beautiful designs to pick a favorite but I love FSL and the FSL Christmas ornaments are definitely some of my favorites.”

Janet F: “I used Kara’s butterflies on the lining of a quilted jacket. I smile every time I put it on, the inside is as pretty as the outside.”

Sara: “I have purchased her designs for quite some time now, the best is she has for every thing & every body, so talented, her creations are exquisite! Sad to hear she passed, but the talent runs in the family with her daughter. We are so happy to have Kreations by Kara for the magnificent, creativity & versatility we get with her creations!”

Thank you, everyone for taking the time to comment. The information you shared is very helpful as we continue to come up with fresh content you’ll enjoy!

Well it’s taken me 20+ years but I finally did it. I stitched on my finger. If you’ve been to any of my classes, I always caution students to keep their fingers out of the hoop. I encourage them to use the eraser end of a pencil, a chopstick, a dowel, anything other than their fingers.

And I usually take my own advice except when I’m in a hurry. And that’s when I don’t take my own advice. Recently, I was stitching a t-shirt when I noticed a portion of the garment was about to flop into the design area. And without thinking, I quickly reached into the hoop to retrieve the fabric. I must have I blinked at the same time. Then I yelped! And yanked my hand back. It hurt really bad, so bad that I was afraid to look at it. My husband ran into the room (he was outside at the grill when it happened and heard me yelp) and we stared at each other. I told him I stitched on my finger. He asked if the needle was still in there. I didn’t have the nerve to look so he did. And it wasn’t in sight. We went back to the machine and were greeted with this safety message:

By then I was okay, it still hurt and was bleeding but everything was under control. Upon closer inspection of the machine, I saw the needle was still in one piece in the machine but bent. Really bent. Look at the image below.

Wow – did I yank my finger away or what? I was lucky the machine stopped and didn’t stitch my finger to the stabilizer, garment or foot. Here’s my souvenir:

Many thoughts ran through my head. I could hear myself telling my students to get their hand out of the hoop. I thought of my sister, Marie, who suffered a similar injury years ago that had to be treated surgically. And I was so thankful for the folks who designed my Brother Entrepreneur 10-needle and put that safety feature into the machine. Without that safety feature, my injury would have been so much worse. Thank you Brother for looking out for all of us embroiderers!

Here’s your assignment this week:

So come on, tell me, have you ever stitched on your finger? You don’t need to share the gory details; just a yes or no and you’ll be entered to win a $20 gift card to dzgns.com !

The winner of the last assignment answered the following question:

Now that Halloween is over, we’re just about in full swing of the next holiday – Thanksgiving. I’d love to know if you’re hosting the meal or if you’re being treated to a year off – and celebrating in someone else’s home. Tell us your plans and a random winner will receive a 13” x 54” ruffled-edge burlap table runner. Perfect for a holiday table!

The winner is:

Joan Shriver: “For years we have traveled to my husband’s sister. We always have a huge group of relatives to enjoy again, see the new babies, catch up. My sister-in-law is my best friend!”